CLEMSON, S.C. — Will Taylor has made such an impression on offensive coordinator Tony Elliott that the former Dutch Fork quarterback has a new nickname – “Maverick”. Elliott says Taylor reminds him of the Tom Cruise character which hit the big screen in the 1986 movie “Top Gun”. Taylor has displayed the swagger and confidence fitting of the nickname given to him by Elliott.
“I’m going to take credit for the nickname Maverick,” Elliott said on Monday
“I called him Maverick first, he reminds me of a young Tom Cruise from Top Gun. He’s got that feistiness to him, that edge to him. I think he likes it too.”
There’s no doubt Taylor likes the nickname which is very appropriate since Taylor turned down a chance to play professional baseball so he could come play football and baseball for the Tigers. Only a maverick would field a bunch of calls on the first two days of the baseball amateur draft in July only to tell those organizations he would be staying in orange.
Taylor has worked his way onto the depth chart where he is on the first team punt return team and yes, he is the one fielding the punts. He has also seen a few snaps at quarterback and his role as a receiver is still in the developmental stage.